The Competition Called Survival
by Obiwanakin
Summary: One mistake lead to an entire outbreak of one of the most feared monsters humanity can imagine. When over 90 percent of the world population is gone, how will the human race survive? AU ZoSan ON HOLD
1. Prologue

On August 23, 2012, a scientist at the United States Chemical Research Institute did not wash his hands. He went home, played with his two children, ate his dinner, and went to bed with his wife. The next day, he died. Four days after that, his children died. Finally, his wife died a day later. The day after the wife of the scientist died, on August 29, the scientist came back to life.

The USCRI kept the deaths on the down-low, telling the tabloids that there had been a gas leak at the Rantes home, and hired their own special embalming team to take care of the bodies. Then the bodies were sent to a local funeral parlor that began preparing for the burial of the entire family that was to be held the next day. Mortuary assistants were applying a light blush to the cheeks of the youngest daughter, when suddenly the eyes of Dr. Jeremy Rantes opened as he sat up on his gurney; they were still just as blue as they had been before death had claimed him. Then the entire family followed his example and sat up on their individual gurneys. The mortuary assistants stood frozen in their work, only staring at the movement around them.

Then the entire Rantes family leaned in to attack, each member grabbing a random worker inside and ripping their teeth through their necks. Tongues lapped at flowing blood and throats were taking down thick chunks of muscle and meat. Once the feast was over, the zombies smashed through windows to make their escape. The Rantes family moved on while the dead left in the building regained consciousness and moved to look for meals of their own.

This is where the outbreak begins. The Rantes family made their way to a town, causing mass chaos and bloodshed. It started a cycle: People die, zombies form, people die, zombies form. Until hardly anyone originally of the city was left. This spread quickly all across the United States to Canada. The unaware-but-infected minor bitees travelled away from the chaos, but brought it somewhere else. In comes Japan, Europe, Africa. The disease takes over everywhere until the populations deplete. By December 21, the disease had claimed more than 98% of the world's population. That left only a quickly diminishing 2% of humans left.

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><p>The alleys were silent and empty as the lone man crept through them. His white shirt was worn down to barely a thin cloth, his jeans were torn mainly at the knees but fraying abundantly in other areas, his black boots were skillfully silent. Three swords -one black, one red, and one white- clunked quietly against his leg. He crept around a corner and glanced into the intersecting alleyway of four buildings, one of which he was leaning against. Dark eyes watched as one of the undead gnawed aimlessly on the ribcage of an already deceased woman. The zombie was only a child, with one eye and nothing where the skin that covers the jaw and teeth would be.<p>

The man's hands went immediately to the swords at his hip. The white beauty was left alone while her comrades were stealthily drawn. Quick as lightening, the man launched himself into the alleyway and swung at the child zombie. Before the thing could even gasp out a snarl, metal sliced through its rotten flesh with a quick "ssschick" sound. The head fell from the body to land with a thud next to the woman's rotting corpse. The body slumped down beside the others. Another slice and the head of the dead woman rolled off. She would have become one of the undead herself soon. The blood around her body was still tacky and even her stump of a neck was letting out a small trickle of the red water.

The man re-sheathed one of his swords, but kept the other gripped firmly in his left hand, and truly glanced around the alleyway. He spied a door and quickly went to it, pushing inside quietly.

Inside the building it was cold and damp; A steady drip could be heard echoing around the room. A hand fished in a pocket to pull out a lighter. He flicked the small wheel that went on to light the flame and illuminate the room in a soft glow. The building must have been have been a warehouse, because all that was left inside were boxes and pile after pile of trash.

Listening carefully, the man's eyes darted around the room, searching for any form of danger. The sound of a can clonking to the ground and rolling across the floor broke the silence; the man's head darted in that direction. He began to step quietly to the sound, sword bared and lighter out. More trash rustling in the same general area, then a fuzzy gray head appeared. The head had pointed ears that flopped forward and a long snout. Then the head let out a happy bark and rushed to the man through the trash, revealing the strong-built body of a gray German Shepard.

Smiling, the man sheathed his sword and put away the lighter before leaning back against a cool brick wall and sliding down to sit. "C'mere, dog. I'm not gonna hurt you."

The steady click-click-click of clawed paws as the canine walked towards the man. A fuzzy body laid down next to him and an equally fuzzy head laid in his lap. The man adjusted his body so that he was laying with the dog sprawled halfway on his torso while he crossed his arms behind his head and used them as a pillow against the wall his head was leaning on.

"Good boy. I guess me and you are loners, eh? We could band up. What do you think?"

A happy bark and then a lick at his bicep. The man knew that this was going to go well. Dogs were valued immensely in these times. They were protection and companionship.

"Well, good. I guess you need a name. How about... Moki?" Another bark. "Alright, Moki. My name is Zoro. Nice to meet you."


	2. Chapter 1

Zoro found that sleep came much easier than usual with Moki around. The nightmares still haunted him, but no longer was he afraid that he would fall asleep only to be attacked during his slumber. The first night with the dog in the damp, trash-filled room was one of the most restful Zoro had had since the outbreak. When he awoke the next morning, the dog was curled against his side peacefully.

"Oi." Zoro said, nudging the dog gently. "Time to get up, Moki."

The dog gave a low whine and lifted his paws over his head to cover his eyes.

"I know, I know. We need to get moving, though."

Moki finally lifted his head and gave Zoro a sleepy look before standing with a yawn to stretch.

Zoro stood with a yawn-stretch combo of his own. Now that day had come, light shined in through a dusty window off in the corner that he'd failed to notice before. There was a crack running through the glass, and a quiet draft blew through it. Zoro mentally cursed himself. That kind of stupidity could cost him his life. Any zombie, even a weak one, could smash through the window and get in.

Quietly, Zoro opened the heavy door and let Moki out, then going himself. Outside it was chilly; he wished he had a thick jacket instead of his thin shirt. The bodies of the zombies killed the night before still lay where they were left, untouched by everything except the morning frost which stuck to their corpses in a thin layer. Moki went to sniff at them, but quickly backed away with a growl once he registered their scent.

Zoro turned his back on the sun and started walking west, swords bumping against his hip and thigh. Part of him longed to turn around so that he could stay in New Jersey and cling to the hope that his friends were still alive. He pushed that desperate thought to the darkest part of his heart where it could be effectively ignored. If he wanted to survive then he'd have to head west where civilization was scarce; he was thinking of going to Oregon in particular because, next to Alaska, they had the largest amount of forests, or so he'd heard from another traveler he'd met some time ago.

Zoro glanced down at Moki who followed closely with ears perked. Even now, Zoro was nervous. At any moment, one of the undead could appear and rip his new found companion to shreds. The man had to suppress a shudder at the thought. He'd already lost Luffy, Ace, and Robin; he couldn't let himself get attached to something as small as a dog. One look at the dog, though, and Zoro knew that he would fight endlessly for Moki's life if the situation arose. Zoro could only hope that it didn't. He might have prayed if he believed in anything such as a god.

Now Zoro couldn't help losing himself to the memories of his nakama. Luffy and Ace, the closest brothers Zoro had ever seen, along with Robin, a raven-haired beauty with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, had found an abandoned SUV not long after the epidemic had reached the East Coast. They had wanted to go west in it, but Zoro had refused to come along.

"It'll be too dangerous in that thing. There's gonna be other cars trying to get away and hoards of dead fucks that could surround you and you'll have to maintain it and-"

"Okay, Zoro. We're going in the car, but we won't force you to come with us. Just... be careful." Ace said, then they were gone, speeding down the street. Zoro could see Luffy waving to him sadly through the back window.

A few months after Zoro had split up with his friends, he came across their vehicle toppled over, but with no bodies or equipment inside. They could have just crashed while they were in a hurry and grabbed their things to book it out of the area, but the zombies could have gotten them and other survivors could have taken their things as they came across the wrecked SUV. Once again, Zoro could rely only on the hope that his friends had escaped unharmed.

Zoro was brought out of his thoughts by Moki's growling. The dog had his ears pinned flat against his head and his body lowered to an offensive stance. Zoro followed Moki's line of vision and saw at least five zombies creeping out of an alleyway. He couldn't help but let out a curse as he stopped his walking.

Unfortunately, zombies were not solitary creatures. They sought out others, a human trait that they still had even in their zombie state. The fact that they traveled together in packs made them especially dangerous; they may be dead and rotted, but they were humans with working brains at one point, so they retained varying amounts of knowledge. In packs, they used teamwork to take down the living humans and anything else living they may be with. The flesh of nonhuman creatures didn't exactly nourish them like human flesh did, but they still killed whatever animals they saw humans with. To zombies, those animals were just barriers between them and their dinner.

With practiced skill, Zoro unsheathed his three swords, the white one going to his mouth so that he could clamp the hilt between his jaws, and the other two in each of his hands. He stood still, waiting for the zombies to take notice of him. So far, they'd only been hobbling along to his left; thankfully, zombies' senses weren't that great and they had a hard time locating humans. It didn't take too long because one had seen him take out his swords and prodded the others to look. Soon, all five were charging at him, mouths open in raging groans.

Zoro was about to move forward to slice through their necks when he saw Moki charge ahead and bite into one zombie's leg. Fear ripped through every inch of Zoro, the thought of losing his only nakama, of being on his own again, the only thing on his mind.

"Moki, no!" Zoro lunged forward to stop the canine, but the zombie had already reached a long-nailed, gnarled hand down to rip through Moki's shoulder, releasing a spray of crimson and the ugly sound of tearing flesh.

As fast as he could, Zoro launched himself at the zombies, swords swinging and slicing with ease through decomposing necks. He only made it completely through one zombie, and partially decapitated another. With a hard swallow, he tried again, moving as fast as he could to take the monsters down so that he could tend to his friend. He got it that time, its head falling to thunk onto the ground with its own and the other's body. He was about to go for another, when suddenly a sharp, exploding pain ripped down his back. He span around to see a zombie standing there with its hand up, Zoro's own blood and flesh dripping down it.

"Watch out, marimo!" Came a sudden shout.

Instinct at the human words took over and Zoro ducked, just in time to avoid a leg clad in black, straight-leg jeans that came swinging by. To Zoro's surprise, the kick to two of the zombies' heads clean off. He stood back up from his crouch and looked around for the fifth zombie.

"I already got it." Said the voice again.

Zoro turned and came face-to-face with a tall, skinny blond man with honey blond hair that came down to cover his right eye. The man was very obviously alive, if maybe a little pale, with bright blue eyes, a little stubble, and a strangely curled eyebrow. The man was absolutely beautiful, and Zoro probably would have hit on him if they'd met at a club in a universe where zombies didn't run rampant.

"You-You're human." Zoro stuttered out.

"Yeah." The stranger pulled one of his hands from his pockets and held it out. "Sanji."

Zoro took the hand and shook it briefly before letting go. "Zoro. Thanks for helping me."

"No pro-"

"Fuck, Moki!" In a hurry, Zoro forgot the stranger and ran to the dog's aid.

Moki was laying down on the asphalt, but had his head up. He gave Zoro a strong bark, as if trying to show he was okay. Zoro kneeled next to him and moved aside gray fur to examine the wound. It wasn't near as bad as he'd thought it'd be, but it would still need care.

"Your own back looks much worse than your dog, marimo."

Zoro turned back to Sanji. "I'll be fine, but Moki needs help."

Sanji rolled his eyes as he pulled out a cigarette to stick between his lips. "Idiot. Your dog'll be dead soon anyways if you die because of those ugly scratches. C'mon and I'll clean them." He said, lighting the cigarette with a worn Bic lighter and taking a drag.

Zoro's eyes widened, realizing both that Sanji was correct _and_ he was a human, an actual, living human. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been in contact with a real human was. "Okay. Thanks again. And stop calling me marimo."

Sanji came over and rubbed Moki's head affectionately as Zoro picked him up. "No way. Just look at your hair. I feel like I should have you decorating my fish tank at home."

Zoro grimaced. "Maybe I should rethink going anywhere with you, dartboard brow."

"I could have just left you out here to fight on your own, shitty swordsman." Sanji said with a smirk. "Who the hell fights with swords, anyways? This isn't feudal Japan."

Zoro threw a protective glance down to his beloved swords. "I'm a kendo expert. They _are_ weapons, and they're fucking useful weapons, too."

"Hm. Whatever, marimo." Sanji said, hands in his pockets, and eyes looking lazily to the sky. "Follow me. My friends and I will fix you two up."

With that the blond started walking, leaving Zoro to trail behind curiously.

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><p><strong>Thank you so much to those who reviewed. It means a lot to know that you guys want to read more. I'll try to get in a chapter every week or two for you guys. <strong>

**Again, thanks!**


	3. Chapter 2

After skirting around a few alleyways and darting across a major highway, Sanji gave the 'ok' to slow down and walk at a leisurely enough pace. They were walking through what appeared to be a dried aqueduct behind many buildings.

Zoro adjusted his hold on Moki, who'd long been unconscious, and decided to break the awkward silence. "So," he cleared his throat. "So how much farther is this place? Why were you out so far, anyways?"

Sanji kept facing forward as he walked, not even sparing Zoro a glance. "We've been in this one area so long that most of the surrounding areas around here have been cleared of any food. We have to go farther and farther now just to find something to eat." The blond threw a menacing sneer at Zoro over his shoulder. "We could always just eat that mutt there. He'd go well in a stew."

Zoro looked at Sanji, who'd turned back around, horrified, and clutched Moki tightly to his chest. "Nothing is going to kill this dog," Said the swordsman. "He's trying to survive, too."

"Whatever you say, marimo-mo. We're here." Sanji pulled himself out of the aqueduct with ease.

Zoro frowned and scrabbled up with his one free arm, the other full of a now awake and squirming Moki, much less gracefully than the man before. Sanji was already at the back of a large building. The building appeared to be a hotel, and the door he was knocking at was part of the kitchen or loading zone's back exit.

Zoro hobbled over, back sore and wet with fresh blood; Moki calmed down in his arms with a whine. A woman, beautiful and young with vibrant red hair, had opened the door and was speaking to Sanji.

"Yeah, they were attacked by a pack. Zoro, that green-haired idiot over there, got his back torn up pretty good, and his mutt's got a scratch along its shoulder," Sanji said to the woman.

"His name is Moki, curly-brow," Zoro said as he went to stand next to the woman.

The woman turned to Zoro. "My name's Nami. You better be clean, both you and yo- ... Moki. This place has been too safe for too long and something bad is bound to happen soon."

Zoro nodded. "We didn't get bitten, just scratched."

Sanji and Nami exchanged looks, and, when Sanji gave only a subtle nod confirming Zoro's statement as the truth, Nami sighed and motioned to the doorway. "Come in, then. Sanji, tell the 'Captain' to come to the kitchen to meet the new 'crewmates'. I'm going to take Zoro and Moki to the kitchen to get patched up."

Sanji nodded and went off through a large doorway into what Zoro could see as a lobby.

"Follow me," Said Nami, making her way through the boxes and junk that clattered the room. Zoro followed and found that he and Nami were walking into a kitchen, one that was rather clean and nice. "Sorry about all that. That's the storage room. It's the only unnoticeable way into this place, though," Nami patted the clean counter as she walked by it and on to a cupboard. "Hop up, boys. I'm gonna need to fix you up."

Zoro did as told, hauling Moki up, too. The dog lay stretched on the counter with his wound showing, as if he knew that Nami was going to treat him. Zoro sat on the counter admiring the kitchen and how it still looked so inhabitable and ...human.

Nami returned from her rummaging a few seconds later. She held the basic medical supplies needed to stitch a wound and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Moki first," She said, smiling at the dog affectionately. Moki thumped his tail in return. Nami went to work cleaning Moki's wound and stitching it up, then applying gauze to cover it. Done with the dog, she turned to Zoro. "Your turn."

Zoro gritted his teeth at the pain of the rubbing alcohol and the stitching of his wound, occasionally letting out a few less-than-manly squeaks of pain. "Hurry," He growled.

"I'm almost done, just stop being a nuisance. Aaaaand- there! You're all stitched up," Nami applied the gauze and stepped back to admire her work. "Does it feel okay?"

Zoro nodded. "Thanks."

"NAAAAMMMIII! IS THERE REALLY A DOG?" Came a loud cry from the lobby.

Seconds later, a blur of human shot by to sit in front of Moki, who'd moved himself to the ground after his stitching. All Zoro could see was the top of what appeared to be a hat.

"You wanted him, Nami-san," Sanji said coolly as he sauntered in, hand delicately holding a lit cigarette.

Suddenly, the figure, who'd been garbling nonsense pet-speak to Moki sat up in front of Zoro, revealing a thin boy with shaggy brown hair and a straw hat. "HI!" Said the boy. "I'M LUF-" The boy stopped mid-sentence and merely stared at Zoro, who stared right back. "Zoro. Oh my God, Zoro! You're alive!"

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted happily. Both Zoro and Luffy broke into huge grins and launched into a hug.

Sanji and Nami stared at the scene, baffled. "Wait," Nami said. "You two _know_ each other?"

Luffy pulled away from Zoro and laughed. "Yeah! We were friends before all this!"

Zoro's expression went solemn. "But, Luffy, where are Robin and Ace...?"

Luffy cast his eyes down towards his shoes. "Oh, uh, it's a long story..."

Nami thumped the back of his head lightly. "Well, come on! We've got time."

Luffy glanced at Sanji, who nodded in agreement, and then at Zoro. "Okay... but you aren't gonna like it, Zoro..."

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><p><strong><em>"And that's why they call<em> _him Cliffhangeeer!"_**

**Sorry for taking so long to update, guys, and sorry for the lack of action. This was more of a filler/intro thing that just needed to get done. Sorry, again, if it's a little weirdly written, too. I wrote this after I'd taken sleeping medication so it may be a little koo-koo. **

**Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed! Reviews, please. :D**


	4. Chapter 3

Zoro leaned back on his hands. "I doubt it'll make much of a difference now. I've lost just about everything else, anyways."

"Well," Luffy began.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sanji interrupted. "Can we get out of the kitchen first? I don't like having marimo's ass all over my countertops."

Zoro frowned, but hopped off despite the fact, throwing the tattered remains of his shirt to the ground. "_Your_ countertops?"

Sanji gathered himself up, standing straight as he got into Zoro's face. "Yes, _my_ fucking countertops. _I'm_ the chef, so this is _my_ shitty kitchen, and _my_ shitty countertops!"

"This is an abandoned hotel with four people and a dog living in it! Just because you can heat up a few cans of beans doesn't make you a chef!" Zoro gritted his teeth and glared back at Sanji. He hardly knew the guy and he was already close to just throwing him out to the zombies.

But at Zoro's last comment, Sanji's eyes grew wide.

"Uh-oh..," Luffy muttered as he moved to cower behind an irritated-looking Nami.

Sanji didn't falter at Luffy's obvious fear. "Look, you shit swordsman. I was the fucking chef in this place long before zombies even existed. _I_ ran this kitchen; I fed hundreds of guests. This kitchen is all I've got left, and I owe it to the shitty old geezer that for some reason let me step foot into this kitchen to make sure it stays what it once was for as long as possible!" He took a deep breath. "And no idiot swordsman is going to stop me!" The man finished with heaving breaths. "Get. Out."

Zoro wanted nothing more than to unsheathe his swords and unleash his full fury on the blond, but his common sense told him otherwise. He knew what it was like to lose everything, they all did. Besides, he was the newcomer; he was intruding on Sanji's space. Zoro took a step back and nodded.

"C'mon, Luffy," He said. "You can tell me in the lobby."

Luffy nodded, skirting around Sanji carefully as he lead Zoro out of the kitchen.

"Guys," Called Nami as they were going through the door. "I'm gonna stay here with Sanji."

Luffy only nodded again without turning around, but Zoro glanced around, only to see Sanji bracing himself on a counter as he fought back obvious tears.

Zoro admitted to himself that he felt like shit for challenging Sanji on such a personal level, and promised that he would make amends for it once the man was calmer. He patted his leg. "Come, Moki."

Moki sat up and followed with a yawn, limping behind Zoro and Luffy as they left the kitchen.

Zoro followed Luffy into the lobby, which, aside from the carefully replaced furniture in the center of the room and the debris swept to the side, was a wreck. As they neared the couches and chairs, Moki went to curl up on the couch next to Zoro while Luffy, for some reason, stretched out his legs on this floor and leaned back on his hands.

"Sanji really cares about this place. He doesn't talk about why much, just that his foster dad owned it," Said Luffy quietly. "Apparently, his dad was a really awesome chef like Sanji and started the hotel with his friend. His friend ran the hotel part while Sanji's dad ran the restaurant part."

"What happened to them?" Zoro asked carefully.

Luffy shrugged. "I dunno. That's all Sanji's ever said." The boy's eyes brightened. "But Sanji sure can cook! Even with little stuff we have."

Zoro smiled, secretly pleased that Luffy's appetite hadn't changed. That was one of the boy's signature traits back when things were normal. "So," He said. "How did you end up here? With Sanji and Nami?"

"Well, Ace and Robin and me drove for a really long time, but the car ended up messing up and we lost control of it. We were okay, so we just got our stuff and left."

Zoro nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I came across that."

Luffy continued. "We travelled on foot for awhile and got pretty far, but then Robin got really sick. She said it had something to do with drinking bad water." The boy frowned. "We should've been more careful. Anyways, Robin... She didn't live long after that. It was really awful, the way she died."

"I don't want to know," Zoro said quietly, stroking Moki's fur.

"So it was just me and Ace for a few days, then we met Sanji and Nami. Apparently they had met at the hotel back when Sanji worked there; Nami was a guest. We all stayed here, but Ace got all antsy, so he just took off and left one day. We haven't seen him since."

Zoro sighed. "Well, at least we're back together again."

Luffy nodded, then looked confused. "But wait... If you were traveling west, too, you should have been way farther than New Jersey by now."

Zoro's face flushed. "I, uh, got sidetracked."

"You got lost, didn't you?" Luffy fell into barks of laughter, holding his gut and rolling on the floor. "All you had to do was follow the sunset!"

"Well, it's only there for so long!"

Luffy only continued laughing while Zoro fumed, eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"Shut up, will you? You're being too damn loud." Came a voice from the kitchen doorway.

Both Zoro and Luffy turned to Sanji; Luffy slowly inched to hide behind the couch in fear.

"H-Hey, Sanji. When's dinner?" Asked the boy.

"Gimme fifteen minutes with no whining and it'll be done. Why don't you go show Zoro where we sleep?" Sanji suggested, seemingly okay with a cigarette dangling between his lips and his hands shoved in his pockets.

Luffy stood enthusiastically with a nod. "Kay! C'mon, Zoro!"

Zoro gave the chef a questioning look that Sanji ignored if he noticed it, but before any more could be done Luffy was dragging Zoro up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway.

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><p><strong>I'm proud to say that I didn't wait three weeks to finish this chapter. I forgot to add tiny details last time, like whatever happened to Zoro's shirt as he got stitched up and how he was still in New Jersey after a couple months of supposed traveling, but I included stuff like that in this chapter. Once again, not much action; It's just getting into backgrounds and the past. I hope you guys enjoyed the newest installment. <strong>

**Oh, and your reviews are SUPER wonderful. Thank you, guys, so much! **

**(Let's maybe keep them coming, eh? The feedback is helpful.)**


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